OLAF Director-General, Ville Itälä, spoke exclusively to BNT about the violations in the public procurement of cars for the Bulgarian police

OLAF Director-General, Ville Itälä, on February 2 spoke exclusively to BNT about the violations in the public procurement for all-terrain vehicles for the Bulgarian police.

"In order for the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior to cope with the migration pressure, the European Commission has agreed that the ministry will use European funding to purchase 350 all-terrain cars to be used by the police for border protection," the head of OLAF said.

OLAF's investigation from July 2018 to December 2020 proved that the ministry used EU funds to buy 219 SUVs, most of which were produced in 2013 and 2014 and had been in stock for several years. Not all of these cars can be used to guard borders in rugged terrain, without passable roads, as required," he explained.

He commented that the money was not spent for the intended purpose and therefore should be returned. He expressed concern that an institution such as the police had fallen victim to such a "classic" fraud.

"All this means that the money - nearly 6 million euros - has not been spent for the intended purpose and must be returned. The manipulation of public procurement is a classic case of fraud that OLAF often sees. It is even more worrying that a public institution such as the police has been the victim of this type of action," the OLAF chief said.

And he called on the Bulgarian Prosecutor's office to launch an investigation into the abuse of power to the benefit of a third party.

"I urge the Bulgarian Prosecutor's office to consider our recommendations and launch an investigation into abuse of power to the benefit of a third party. This is a clear signal on our part that no one is above the law. OLAF, together with its partners in Europe, will work tirelessly to protect European taxpayers' money," Itälä said.